31.5.2008 – 31.8.2008

Animatus

Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry or Donald Duck are world famous: we know their history and character. But what do we know about their anatomy?

The special exhibition 'Animatus' showed selected works by contemporary artist Hyunkoo Lee. The South Korean artist used the methodology of a fossil researcher to track down various famous cartoon characters. His analysis resulted in three-dimensional, deceptively real skeleton replicas.

In his work, the artist deliberately plays off the concepts and methods of science and art against each other. The cartoon characters are given Latin names and each bone is modeled down to the last detail.

Hyungkoo Lee turns paleontological work upside down and reconstructs skeletons based on known beings – instead of vice versa. It's all fiction and reflects the artist's imagination.